Prep and Landing: Rudolph
by MWolfL
Summary: A new reindeer is born, one with a red nose. The other reindeer and elves tease him, except for Wayne, Noel, Lanny, and Magee who befriend him. Can they help Rudolph prove himself...especially when a fierce storm hits? Some WayneXMagee and two other pairings.
1. The Red Nosed Reindeer

It was the following year, later in December, after Wayne and Magee got back together. Magee had some free time, so she had gone with Wayne, Lanny, and Noel for some Christmas shopping. Lanny, again, was swamped with packages.

"Got enough presents?" Wayne chuckled, amused, after they finished their third store.

"Hey just because you don't have a large family doesn't mean you get to make fun of my large family." Lanny retorted, grunting from all the bags he was carrying.

"Well you should at least learn to pace yourself." Noel pointed out.

"I can't help it, when I see a great gift for someone I have to get it." Lanny shrugged the best he could.

"There goes the stereotype of women being the major shoppers." Magee smiled.

They then stopped, because they saw a crowd of elves and reindeer in a circle laughing at something. Confused, Wayne and his friends dropped their packages into Wayne's and Noel's snowmobiles - which were fortunately nearby - and went to check out the situation. They pushed their way through the crowd, only to find Dasher and his wife...and their new fawn. Wayne and his friends then remembered that Dasher's new son had been born recently. But what was really confusing was that the elves and reindeer seemed to be making fun of the fawn, who was cowering into his mom.

"Okay that's enough! Leave my son alone!" Dasher ordered, furious.

"Keep out of it Athlete Hoof!" A random reindeer retorted.

"I'm gonna kill Dancer for telling the rest of the team about that." Dasher muttered.

"Why are they teasing Dasher's son?" Lanny whispered to Wayne.

"Beats me, but I'm not gonna put up with this any longer." Wayne frowned. "And I know just the thing to stop them."

He went further out of the crowd.

"Hey everyone!" He said loudly.

The elves and reindeer stopped and looked at him. Either they were confused why he was getting their attention or they were expecting him to crack a joke. Either way, Wayne took this opportunity to say:

"You all know that teasing someone is a good way to get on the Naughty List right?" Wayne said with a hinting tone.

The other elves and reindeer left in a flash.

"Works every time." Noel chuckled.

"Wow, that really did work." Lanny went over to Wayne, impressed.

"Just a little something Noel used to use on those who teased me back when we were in school." Wayne shrugged.

"Thanks Wayne." Dasher smiled.

"No problem. So what were those bullies making fun of anyway?" Wayne asked.

Dasher and his wife winced and looked at their son.

"Hey kiddo." Wayne saw that Dasher's fawn was still cowering. "It's okay, the teasers have left."

"What's wrong?" Magee said sympathetically.

The fawn just sniffled.

"Rudolph it's okay, they happen to be friends of mine." Dasher said gently. "They aren't the teasing kind of elves."

Rudolph, the fawn, gave in and turned around...to reveal a glowing red nose.

"A shiny red nose?" Lanny was surprised.

"Actually I'd go with 'glowing' in this case." Wayne was surprised too.

"I didn't know this sort of thing was possible." Noel was also surprised.

"Me neither." Wayne went over to Rudolph. "Hey don't worry, we're your friends. Lanny and I personally know what it's like to be teased all the time." He gently put a hand on Rudolph's shoulder.

"That's right, we're on your side." Lanny agreed.

"You can trust us." Magee smiled.

Rudolph smiled, relieved.

"So, do either of you know where he got that red nose?" Noel asked out of curiosity.

"No, he was just born that way." Mrs. Dasher explained.

"Well, then maybe it was supposed to happen." Noel smiled.

Rudolph's smile became bigger. He didn't say anything though, he was a bit too young to really talk.

Days passed and Wayne, Lanny, and Noel continued to hang out with Rudolph. Magee couldn't as often, being too busy, but she did work on a jingle collar for Rudolph in her spare time. She was planning to give it to him as a Christmas present. Ever since Wayne stood up for Rudolph the elves and reindeer stopped teasing Rudolph as often, much to Dasher and Mrs. Dasher's relief, but now and then someone would still snigger and point. Things got worse the following spring when Rudolph was old enough to go to school (reindeer have shorter childhoods than humans and elves after all).

It started out okay, until one rude buck butted Rudolph out of the cafeteria line.

"Hey watch it." Rudolph frowned.

"No you watch it bulbnose." The rude buck retorted. "This line is for proper reindeer, not glowing freaks."

Rudolph hung his head. Unlike his father he wasn't that confident about anything, except for maybe his kind personality. So he wasn't very good at defending himself.

"Excuse me, but he was here first." Another buck showed up. "Now are you going to let him back in line or am I going to have to get the principal?"

"Oh fine." The rude buck didn't want to risk detention or worse.

He reluctantly backed up and let Rudolph back in line.

"Thanks." Rudolph smiled.

"Don't mention it, just grab your food before Edward there changes his mind." The other buck smiled.

Rudolph went back in line and got his lunch. He then went over to where the friendly buck was sitting. There was a spot free so Rudolph took it.

"Thanks again, for before." Rudolph smiled again. "I'm Rudolph."

"I'm Kevin, and this is my twin sister Kelly." The friendly buck smiled as he gestured to the doe sitting next to him. "Rudolph. I've heard about you, you're the one with the glowing red nose...which I can see."

"Yeah...I'm surprised you haven't been affected by that." Rudolph frowned.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, we're not that popular either." Kelly chuckled. "See we're not that attractive, even though we don't have any 'stand-out' details. Plus our parents warned us not to judge by appearances."

"Yeah, I've been noticing that the unpopular ones are often more friendly than the popular ones." Rudolph nodded. "Wayne and Lanny, the two Prep and Landing elves, for example. However there have been some exceptions. Magee and Noel are also very nice."

"No way, you know them?" Kevin was surprised. "Wayne and Lanny are the most famous Prep and Landing elves ever! And Noel wasn't labeled 'Foremost Naughty Kid Expert' for nothing! And Magee...well, she needs no introduction. Every reindeer knows about her, especially the ones who report to her during Christmas Eve. I can't wait to join the team someday."

"Same here." Kelly smiled. "It is a great honor...the only problem is I'm scared of heights."

"Well, maybe my dad can help you." Rudolph suggested. "He knows everything about flying."

"Wait, your dad is one of the famous eight reindeer?" Kevin stared.

"Yeah, Dasher."

"**The** Dasher?" Kelly gasped. "Oh wow you're so lucky."

"Yeah, he's a great dad." Rudolph grinned.

Rudolph, Kevin, and Kelly continued talking. It wasn't long until they became best friends.


	2. No Reindeer Games

Time passed, and soon it was time to train in the Reindeer Games. Rudolph, wanting to prove himself, trained harder than almost any other deer. He never forgot his promise to help Kelly with her fear of heights though, and one day he asked his dad to help her conquer that fear. Dasher, glad that Rudolph had at least two friends amongst the reindeer, agreed. Around that time another problem happened: some of the bucks and does had complained about Rudolph's glowing nose getting in their eyes and messing them up.

It was fall when that happened, and the trainer had no choice but to ban Rudolph from training. Dasher was furious, but couldn't change the trainer's mind. Rudolph, with a heavy heart, ran off into Holly Jolly Park.

By that time Lanny was taking a walk through the park. He was the host of his family's Christmas party that year and needed a break from all the preparations. They used to have the party on the 24th, but moved it to the 27th after Lanny joined Prep and Landing. It was one of the things Lanny was most grateful for.

Anyway, he soon came across Rudolph sobbing in the woods. Well he didn't literally come across him, but he did hear Rudolph sob and followed the sobs until he found him.

"Rudolph?" Lanny was surprised and concerned. "What happened, someone else teased you?"

"No, worse." Rudolph shook his head. "I'm not allowed to train with the other reindeer."

"What?" Lanny gasped.

Rudolph explained.

"Oh...well unfair as that is we unfortunately can't fight it." Lanny frowned. "Maybe Wayne can think of a solution."

And with that, he and Rudolph went over to Wayne's place. After Wayne heard about the situation he spoke up right away.

"Well there's only one obvious solution." Wayne smiled. "We'll have to train him ourselves."

Lanny and Rudolph both smiled. They then went to Noel, Dasher, and Mrs. Dasher. All three agreed to help Rudolph train.

So, they did. Noel, Wayne, and Lanny hung from Rudolph's antlers to build up his neck muscles - Dasher's idea - sat in sleds for Rudolph to pull, and helped him test his leaps and landings. However they ended up not alone: Kevin and Kelly soon joined them.

"Kevin? Kelly?" Rudolph was surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Well we can't train without our best friend." Kevin smiled.

Rudolph beamed. And fortunately, with Kevin and Kelly there, Rudolph was able to work on being a team player as well as the other stuff...not that he needed to work on being a team player.

They trained for months, Rudolph getting better and better, until finally it was time for the Reindeer Tournament. Despite not being allowed in the Reindeer Games Rudolph was allowed to enter the Tournament, since the rules said that any reindeer past fawn stage could enter. However each competitor did need a partner and an elf. Lanny and Kelly both volunteered to work with Rudolph. Kevin instead wanted to work with Edward...to make sure that Edward wouldn't cheat.

First was the race, to test speed. Each pair of reindeer had to pull a racing sled with an elf in it.

"Now, you sure you'll be okay?" Wayne said to Lanny in the locker rooms; Wayne was there for moral support (in Lanny's case) and to be backup in case Lanny got hurt or something.

"Y-yeah...I'll be fine." Lanny didn't sound so sure.

"Well, I'm proud of you Tree Skirt." Wayne smiled. "This is a very brave and kind thing you're doing for Rudolph."

"Well...I am kind." Lanny shrugged.

Wayne chuckled.

"No one said you weren't." He replied.

"Yeah..." Lanny was obviously still really nervous.

The race then was about to start, so Lanny had to leave. He got into the sled that was to be pulled by Rudolph and Kelly.

The race begun, and things went smoothly. Until the last lap that is, when Edward noticed that Rudolph and Kelly were catching up. Not wanting to lose to Rudolph, Edward stuck a hoof out to trip him. Lanny noticed and immediately became very nervous, knowing that if Rudolph tripped it could cause a collision. Kevin fortunately caught onto what Edward was trying to pull though and suddenly stopped, causing Rudolph and Kelly to zoom past them and win the race.

"What was that?" Edward cried, furious.

"That was to stop you from tripping my best friend!" Kevin retorted. "You could've hurt him and Lanny, not to mention my sister!"

"But we lost!" Edward protested. "We could've won!"

"There are more important things than winning!" Kevin snapped, catching Edward off guard.

As for Rudolph and Kelly, they couldn't believe they won.

"All right, we did it!" Kelly cheered.

"I think because your brother threw the race." Rudolph remembered seeing Kevin stop suddenly.

"That...was...to stop...his partner..." Lanny explained weakly. "From...tripping you..."

He fainted.

"Uh, I think we're gonna have to switch to Wayne." Rudolph said awkwardly.

Fortunately Wayne showed up at that moment to check on Lanny. After finding out what happened he decided to take Lanny's place in the Tournament.

Also fortunately, the referee overheard Kevin yelling at Edward and had Edward disqualified for attempted cheating so that he couldn't hurt anyone else. This meant that Kevin couldn't compete either, since there weren't any reindeer that could be his new partner, but he switched to being Kelly's backup so things were good.

Edward, furious, decided to look through the rules of the Tournament to see if he could get Rudolph disqualified as well.

The Tournament continued, and Rudolph and Kelly won almost every event. The one event they had most trouble with was the leaping one, due to Kelly's fear of heights, but fortunately she had conquered it enough to allow them to win third place.

Even so, the other competitors were very jealous despite Rudolph not boasting about his wins. Instead, when he and Kelly accepted the trophy the reindeer with the most wins got, Rudolph merely thanked Kelly, Kevin, Wayne, Lanny, Noel, and his parents for making this possible. Suddenly, Edward rushed over with a book.

"Hold it, Rudolph can't keep his medals or that trophy, the rules say that all reindeer have to train with other reindeer in order to compete in the Tournament!" Edward said. "From what I heard Rudolph only trained with a few elves and his parents, who don't count!"

"On the contrary." Kelly spoke up. "My brother Kevin and I also trained with Rudolph. I believe that counts."

Edward's face fell.

"She's right." The referee said. "That does count. Rudolph gets to keep his medals and the trophy."

"Thanks, but I'd rather Kelly keep it." Rudolph handed Kelly the trophy. "I couldn't have gotten this far without you."

Kelly blushed and accepted the trophy.

Kevin, Wayne, Noel, Dasher, Mrs. Dasher, and Lanny - who had recovered by this point - cheered.

Winning the trophy also meant that Rudolph and Kelly were allowed to become Sleigh Team Trainees along with a few other major medal winners. Kevin hadn't won any medals, but was still allowed to join Rudolph and Kelly by Dasher's personal invite. Reindeer who became Sleigh Team Trainees were allowed to train and hang out with the Sleigh Team, though weren't allowed to pull the sleigh just yet. They were only allowed to if a member of the Sleigh Team retired or was indisposed. Also they were sometimes called on to take Prep and Landing elves to their destinations.

So things went a lot smoother from then on...at least until late December the following year. A heavy blizzard had hit the North Pole, the kind that made the elves stay home most of the time and the reindeer stay in Caribou Quarter, their living section, most of the time. Everyone was worried, because while the Sleigh Team and Prep and Landing Elves had gotten used to dealing with blizzards in other parts of the world the North Pole was a different matter. This was because of the hundreds of mountains surrounding the place.


	3. One Foggy Christmas Eve

By December 24th, Santa had come to a decision. He called in the reindeer and elves to a meeting inside his lodge.

"I'm sorry everyone, but the storm is too dangerous." Santa said regretfully. "And I've also heard that there are storms in other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. I'm afraid we'll have to cancel the flight."

"But sir, we can't disappoint the children!" Lanny protested.

"I know, but there's nothing we can do." Santa sighed.

"If we put our heads together I'm sure we can come up with something." Rudolph spoke up, going nearer to Santa.

Santa suddenly beamed.

"And I just did!" He said happily. "Rudolph, that nose of yours! I'll bet it could safely guide the team through the storm!"

"Well...maybe." Rudolph thought it over. "I sometimes have to put a cap on it so that I can actually sleep at night so it might cut through the storm."

"Well then: will you guide my sleigh tonight Rudolph?" Santa asked.

"Of course I will!" Rudolph smiled. "Anything for the kids."

Everyone else cheered. But then when they calmed down...

"But what about the Prep and Landing elves?" Magee spoke up.

Everyone else groaned disappointedly.

"I think I know what to do." Rudolph smiled. "But I'll need Mr. Thistleton's help."

"You can count on me!" Mr. Thistleton approached Rudolph and saluted. "If I can invent the Winternet, the Sledway Personal Transport, the B.U.L.B. Transit System-"

"Uh, we get the idea." Kevin cut in, being near Rudolph at the time.

Mr. Thistleton looked very annoyed. Wayne, Noel, Lanny, and Magee however grinned amusedly at each other.

So, while Rudolph and Mr. Thistleton worked on Rudolph's idea everyone else prepared for the big launch. Eventually it got to the part where Wayne and Lanny headed for Thrasher's transport.

"I hope Rudolph hurries up with his idea." Lanny said nervously.

"Relax Tree Skirt, we handled that storm around Timmy Terwelp's house right?" Wayne smiled. "And Thrasher is one of the best navigators around."

"What do you mean 'one of'?" Thrasher glared.

"Hey, give your second cousin some credit." Wayne chuckled.

"True...speaking of which I've been hearing stories about you two standing up for my second cousin's son Rudolph and helping him with training." Thrasher said sternly; he then smiled. "Thanks. Any elf who helps a family member of mine is okay in my book."

Lanny wiped his forehead with relief. Wayne just smirked, since he and Thrasher were already on good terms. They just weren't on good enough terms for Thrasher to admit it in public like he does with Noel.

Rudolph suddenly rushed in with a specialized headlamp and a bag. The specialized headlamp looked like the kind Coal Elves used, except there were slits for the antlers to poke through.

"Here, I had these made for Thrasher and you Prep and Landing elves." He smiled.

"Hm, not very stealthy but we don't want any casualties so I'll put up with it." Thrasher reluctantly put the headlamp on. "Thanks kid."

"No problem cousin." Rudolph smiled.

Wayne and Lanny reached into the bag and pulled out tiny lamps that could fit onto their helmets without risk of falling off.

"Wow, these are great!" Lanny smiled as he put his on.

Even though the Prep and Landing elves used night-vision goggles sometimes they didn't work very well through heavy snow. Especially when there wasn't any outside lighting.

"Rudolph, you'll go down in history." Wayne smiled.

"Thanks guys." Rudolph smiled back. "I'd better head back to the team, see ya at the party tomorrow."

Rudolph left and Wayne and Lanny entered the transport. Wayne brought the bag inside and handed lamps to each of the elves. Thrasher, on his cue, took off. Fortunately, the headlamp worked perfectly. Thrasher was able to see all the mountains and dodge them with feet to spare.

Meanwhile, back at the launch site, the sleigh and reindeer were being prepped. Magee then contacted Dasher.

"Now, we can't use Eight-Maids-A-Milking tonight since there are now nine of you." She said. "So we quickly have to come up with another call sign."

"It's about time." Dasher muttered.

"The only problem is the last four lyrics to Twelve Days of Christmas have been altered a lot so I'm not sure which one to pick." Magee continued. "There are 'Bagpipers Piping', 'Ladies Dancing'-"

"Definitely not **that** one!" Dasher interrupted.

"Okay...that makes it a little easier." Magee was a bit caught off-guard. "Uh, there's also 'Lords-A-Leaping' and 'Drummers Drumming'."

"Oh the Lords one! I like that one!" Dasher smiled.

"Okay, Nine Lords-A-Leaping it is." Magee shrugged.

Apart from that one change, the launch went as usual. The flight too, thank goodness. Thanks to Rudolph's nose the team was able to avoid the mountains as well.

Christmas Eve went smoothly, at least until Wayne and Lanny entered one house in New Rochelle, New York. They entered with no problem, but when they scanned for 'Creatures Stirring', there was one: a small boy who was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch and shivering. See there was a storm going on in that area too. When the storm made a loud noise the young boy whimpered. The Christmas tree lights were also on.

Wayne and Lanny stealthily ducked into the kitchen and talked about the situation.

"Poor boy, he must be scared of the storm." Wayne whispered sympathetically.

"I guess he thought the Christmas tree lights would comfort him to sleep." Lanny added, also sympathetic. "What're we going to do?"

"Well, we can't abandon him...let's see, when Timmy discovered us there weren't any casualties." Wayne thought it over. "How about we just do our job, and if he discovers us we'll Sparkle him?"

"I guess that'll work." Lanny sighed. "But I'd still like to help him...wait a minute, if he discovers us he'll know that we made it through safely and Santa will too. That might comfort him enough for him to fall asleep on his own."

"You've got a point..." Wayne suddenly smirked, getting an idea. "But there's no reason why he shouldn't know how Santa is going to make it safely."

Lanny just looked at him with confusion. Wayne only winked.

So, they did their job. They weren't discovered...at least not until it was time to 'trim the tree' with the Snowflake Buzzsaw. That's when the boy woke up entirely.

"Santa's elves?" He was surprised. "You made it through the storm?"

"Yeah, we did, and Santa will too." Lanny smiled comfortingly.

"Uh-huh, there's a new reindeer on the team." Wayne spoke up to Lanny's surprise. "His name is Rudolph, and he has a shiny red nose. You can even say it glows. He used to be called names for it, but tonight Santa got the idea to use it to guide the sleigh through the snow and fog. I know Rudolph will go down in history for it too."

Lanny now got the idea: Santa and his original eight reindeer were already famous amongst the humans and in books and specials, and Wayne wanted Rudolph to have the same honor.

"Wow cool!" The boy now smiled. "I wish I could meet him. Santa and the other reindeer too for that matter. I'm Robert by the way."

"I'm Wayne and that's Lanny, but we'd rather remain anonymous." Wayne smiled. "And I'm afraid you can't meet anyone else, it's against the rules."

"I know." Robert sighed. "Oh well, at least now I can sleep more peacefully."

"Especially with this." Wayne pulled out a Sparkle Ornament.

He then activated it and hit Robert with it. Robert fell asleep.

"With any luck, he'll pass this off as a dream to his parents." Wayne grinned.

"That was brilliant." Lanny smiled.

They then finished their job and moved on to other houses. The rest of Christmas Eve was fluid flying.


	4. A Holly Jolly Christmas

Christmas Day, it was time for the party. Wayne and Magee went together and Noel had his own date, but Lanny hadn't arrived yet.

"I wonder where Lanny could be." Wayne frowned with confusion. "It isn't like Lanny to miss the party."

"Maybe he's still getting ready." Magee shrugged.

"Maybe. Oh well we can still enjoy ourselves while we wait for him." Wayne smiled.

Magee smiled in agreement.

Rudolph didn't go with a date, because all the female reindeer were hogging his attention. Despite him being interested in only one doe, he talked with the other does just to be polite. Kevin and Kelly went on their own since they knew that Rudolph would be swamped for a while. Rudolph was the Christmas Hero after all.

As for Lanny...well, he wasn't at the party because he was trying to dodge an elf. An elf named Carol specifically. Carol had taken an immediate liking to Lanny a few years back, and the feeling wasn't mutual. Each year Carol got more and more obvious, until finally Lanny couldn't take it anymore. He was going to ask Santa himself for advice.

Lanny managed to make it inside Santa's office without Carol noticing, though he still decided to hide underneath Miss Holly's desk. Fortunately Carol passed Santa's office without even taking peek inside. Miss Holly had noticed though.

"Lanny?" Miss Holly recognized him. "What are you doing under there?"

"Sorry Miss Holly." Lanny whispered nervously. "But I'm trying to avoid an unwanted admirer. Is the Big Guy free? I really need his help."

"He's free, you can go on in." Miss Holly smiled. "Carol huh? You aren't the first elf she pursued."

"Well I hope I'm not the last." Lanny muttered as he entered Santa's office.

Miss Holly actually giggled.

"Hello Lanny." Santa smiled. "What are you doing here, shouldn't you be enjoying the party?"

"I'd love to sir, but I can't with Carol pursuing me all the time." Lanny admitted. "Do you know of any way to get her off my back? Besides telling her to...I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"There is one way: ask someone else to go with you." Santa smirked as if it was obvious.

Lanny sighed.

"I already tried that." He said. "But the only ones who'd ever go with me, my friends Vicky and Wendy, have already been asked."

"Oh." Santa's smile faded sympathetically; he then smiled again upon getting an idea. "You know, no one's asked Miss Holly to the party yet. In fact she's never been asked before."

"Really? I guess the other elves always assume that she's too busy." Lanny shrugged. "And uh..."

"Strict?" Santa chuckled. "She does seem so, but she's only strict when it comes to her job. And don't let her clothes fool you either, she's actually a very sociable elf and has been wanting someone to ask her."

"Huh..." Lanny considered it. "Well, she's a better pick than Carol...I mean seriously that woman scares me... All right, I'll ask her." Lanny turned to leave.

"Hold on." Santa turned on his call box. "Miss Holly, is Carol out there?"

"No sir, it's safe for Lanny to come out." Miss Holly answered.

"*Whew*, thanks sir." Lanny wiped his forehead, realizing that he hadn't considered that possibility.

"Please, call me Santa." Santa smiled.

"All right...Santa." Lanny smiled back. "And thank you for the help."

"Anytime Lanny, anytime." Santa smiled. "You are one of my nicest elves after all."

That obviously made Lanny feel very good.

Lanny left Santa's office and approached Miss Holly.

"So, what did Santa advise?" Miss Holly asked.

"He suggested that I ask someone else...so, I was wondering, uh..." Lanny hesitated, always having been nervous about this sort of thing.

Miss Holly looked at him startled.

"Are you asking me to the party?" She couldn't believe it; she then remembered Lanny's predicament. "Oh, this is just to get Carol off your back." She sighed.

"Well...it's also out of empathy." Lanny admitted. "I heard no one's ever asked you before...and no one ever really wanted to go with me before. Not counting Carol."

Miss Holly looked surprised this time.

"No one ever wanted to go with you? But you're one of Prep and Landing's best elves." She said.

Lanny blushed, as he always did when complimented.

"Yeah, but I'm clumsy and get scared easily." He explained. "Obviously not very attractive features. Plus I'm getting the strangest feeling that some of my Christmas sweaters put-off a lot of the other elves..."

Miss Holly couldn't deny the last part. Lanny at this very moment was wearing one of his favorite festive kitten sweaters. The kitten on it was actually cute, but the image itself was kinda unfashionable: the kitten was poking its head out of a Christmas tree. The first two faults however...

"Well, clumsiness is something that can't always be helped, so it isn't fair for others to look down on you for it. I mean it's like Rudolph's nose: it might come in handy someday." She said. "And despite your ability to be scared easily you still try your hardest to help others and do your job even during difficult situations. That's true courage."

Lanny smiled. That was the nicest thing any elf had ever said to him. Not counting the stuff his mom always said to him of course.

"So, you'll go to the party with me?" He asked again, feeling a little braver.

"I'd love to." Miss Holly smiled; she then turned on the call-box. "Sir, is it okay if I go to the party with Lanny?"

"Of course, I can handle things on my own today." Santa replied. "Go on and have fun you two."

"Thank you sir." Miss Holly beamed.

"Yes, thank you." Lanny smiled.

"You're welcome." Santa said.

Miss Holly straightened her desk, hopped down off her chair, and went over to Lanny. They then walked to the party together. Most of the elves were surprised who Lanny had arrived with, but Wayne, Noel, and Magee weren't. They had a feeling this had more to do with Lanny trying to avoid Carol than anything else.

Lanny soon spotted Wayne and Magee, and he and Miss Holly joined them.

"You weren't too busy to come?" Wayne was surprised.

"I'm usually not." Miss Holly replied. "And I definitely wasn't today."

"Well, then I'm glad you made it to the party." Magee smiled.

"Same here, I can't wait to enjoy myself." Miss Holly grinned. "I think I already am enjoying myself actually."

"Hey Lanny, how about we get our 'dates' a drink." Wayne winked.

Lanny blushed.

"Oh that would be great, I'm actually kinda thirsty." Miss Holly smiled. "The next shipment of Fun Nog won't be until later this week, but maybe there's some here anyway. If so I'd love a cup."

"What if that brand isn't there?" Lanny asked.

"Then some other brand of eggnog will do." Miss Holly shrugged, still smiling. "Thank you Lanny."

"Of course." Lanny was still blushing.

"What about you Magee?" Wayne asked. "Your usual eggnog latte?"

"Nah, just some hot cocoa." Magee smiled. "Thanks sweetie."

"Anytime, come on Lanny." Wayne grabbed Lanny by the arm. "We'll be back in a few minutes."

Wayne and Lanny walked over to the refreshments table and talked:

"So, got Carol off your back huh?" Wayne grinned.

"At least for today." Lanny nodded. "Though it's not official until she actually finds out that I'm with Miss Holly."

"How did you get the idea to ask her? Noticed that she wasn't too busy or something?" Wayne now asked with confusion.

"Nah, it was Santa's idea." Lanny shrugged. "He not only wanted to help me but also wanted Miss Holly to have some fun. It turns out Miss Holly is more sociable than any of us thought."

"Huh, if I had known sooner I would've asked her out of pity back before Magee and I got together." Wayne shrugged. "I'm guessing that was the other reason you asked her."

"Well, it wasn't pity so much as empathy." Lanny sighed.

Wayne looked at him sympathetically.

"You'll find the right girl someday." He said. "Who knows, maybe you already did."

Lanny looked very surprised. He hadn't even thought of the possibility of he and Miss Holly becoming more than friends.

Meanwhile, Magee and Miss Holly talked:

"You know why Lanny asked you out right?" Magee wanted to make sure so Miss Holly wouldn't be hurt later.

"Oh yeah: get Carol off his back." Miss Holly smiled.

"Oh, I guess you wanted to come that badly huh." Magee was relieved.

"Well, that and Lanny also asked me out of empathy." Miss Holly said. "I feel sorry for him, he's a really nice guy despite his faults."

"I know...did you see the sweater he's wearing? What am I saying, of course you did..."

"Yeah, not my kind of sweater." Miss Holly giggled. "But it's bearable. At least it doesn't want to make me avoid Lanny."

"Well, if you two become closer maybe you can help him with his wardrobe." Magee grinned.

"At least with the sweaters, I don't want to change him completely." Miss Holly nodded before getting what Magee was hinting at. "Whoa wait, you mean 'closer' like...?"

Magee nodded, still grinning.

"Uh, I don't think it'll work out..." Miss Holly blushed. "I...kinda have my eye on someone else."

"Oh." Magee nodded understandingly. "Okay then. But if things don't work out between you and this other guy think about it."

"I...I will." Miss Holly had to admit that Lanny wasn't a bad choice; however her crush, an elf named Brett, came first.

Wayne and Lanny then returned with the drinks. They talked for quite a while, and Wayne, Magee, and Lanny grew to like Miss Holly a lot. Miss Holly ended up liking them a lot as well. Then she blushed.

"There he is." She said without thinking.

Wayne, Lanny, and Magee turned and saw a strong-armed elf.

"That's Brett, he delivers Fun Nog every Thursday at 10:30 AM." Miss Holly blushed stronger.

Wayne and Magee glanced at each other and started to leave.

"Pardon us, I just realized that I haven't greeted Noel yet." Wayne explained.

"Oh of course." Lanny smiled. "Tell him I said 'Merry Christmas'."

"Will do!" Wayne waved back.

Now, Wayne and Magee hadn't left Lanny and Miss Holly just to greet Noel. That was part of it, but there was another reason: they both knew how helpful Lanny was, and so expected him to offer to help Miss Holly get together with Brett. They wanted Miss Holly and Lanny become closer, maybe even end up together, so they decided to give them privacy. You see, they knew Brett pretty well. They both liked Fun Nog too, and have had more time in the past to get to know him. It turns out Brett was a strong and somewhat friendly guy, but he wasn't that smart and he was a bit shallow when it came to women. They knew Miss Holly could do better, and Lanny was one of the 'better' choices.

Sure enough:

"So, you have a crush on Brett?" Lanny guessed.

"Yeah...I don't know him very well though." Miss Holly frowned with sadness. "We don't always get a chance to talk."

"Well...maybe I can help." Lanny suggested. "I have more free time so I can talk to Brett and get to know him, and then I can talk about you to him so that he'd get interested in asking you out."

"Really?" Miss Holly beamed. "You'd do that for me?"

"Sure, I love helping my friends." Lanny smiled.

Miss Holly hugged him. At that point Carol arrived and saw that, and fortunately Wayne was nearby at the time.

"Don't take it too hard." He said to Carol. "Lanny just scares easily that's all. Why, if Santa hadn't suggested it he wouldn't have asked Miss Holly out in the first place. He mostly asked her out of empathy anyway."

"Ah." Carol sighed. "I guess I was being too pushy. I'd better back off, let him warm up to me on his own terms."

"_That's a major understatement._" Wayne thought as soon as Carol said the word 'pushy'.


	5. And All The Reindeer Loved Him

Suddenly, there was a tapping of glass. Santa and Mrs. Claus had arrived.

"Ladies and gentlemen, reindeer and elves, I have an announcement to make." Santa said. "Normally I only have my sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, but Rudolph did such a fabulous job last night that I'd like to make him a permanent member of the Sleigh Team. What do you say Rudolph?"

"I'd say I couldn't be more honored." Rudolph beamed. "I'd love to join my dad and all the other wonderful reindeer on the team."

"That's my boy!" Dasher called proudly. "Yes, the new call-sign will be a permanent one." He added happily under his breath.

Mrs. Dasher, Dancer, and Blitzen, who were the only ones who heard Dasher, shook their heads with amusement.

"Also, I was watching certain kids, like I always do, in my office and I saw something interesting." Santa added. "It was at the home of the young boy Robert May, in New York. It seems he knows about our Rudolph and actually wrote a song about him. He just wrote it when he first got up this morning, and he then read it for his parents as a Christmas present. I liked it so much that I have asked Tiny to sing it for us right now. So here is Tiny singing 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'."

Tiny went onto a platform - which had been brought out and raised so that everyone could see him - and sang:

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  
>Had a very shiny nose<br>And if you ever saw it  
>You would eve say it glows<p>

All of the other reindeer  
>Used to laugh and call him names<br>They wouldn't let poor Rudolph  
>Join in any Reindeer Games<p>

Then one foggy Christmas Eve  
>Santa came to say<br>'Rudolph with your nose so bright  
>Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?'<p>

And how the reindeer loved him  
>As they shouted out with glee<br>Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  
>You'll go down in history!<p>

All the elves and reindeer cheered and applauded. Santa and Mrs. Claus did too. Magee then smirked at Wayne, knowing how Robert knew about Rudolph in the first place.

"Well Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the Sleigh Team are already famous in the human world." Wayne shrugged innocently. "I didn't see any reason why Rudolph couldn't be famous there either."

Magee kissed him on the cheek.

"You are a great friend Wayne." She smiled. "And a great boyfriend too."

Speaking of which, Rudolph then spoke up:

"Truthfully everyone, I don't care about being famous. All I've ever wanted was real friends, and I've gotten quite a few during my fawnhood. And there's one in particular I want to be closer too. Kelly, will you come here please?"

Kelly, blushing, approached Rudolph.

"Kelly, you have been the only doe besides my mom who's stood by my side and seen me for who I really am. So I was wondering...would you like to be my doefriend?" Rudolph asked.

Kelly nuzzled him.

"I'd love to." She said.

She and Rudolph kissed.

Kevin grinned, overjoyed. The elves applauded - except for Wayne, Lanny, Noel, and Magee, they cheered - Rudolph's and Kelly and Kevin's moms sobbed with joy, their dads pumped a hoof, and the other reindeer stomped their hooves (their version of clapping). Well except for the other does, they just scowled with jealousy. But that was to be expected.

And Miss Holly and Brett? Well Lanny did help them go out on one date, but I'll leave the rest up to you readers. Whether Miss Holly and Brett ended up really liking each other and ended up together or Miss Holly realized that Brett wasn't the one and later chose Lanny...you decide. I'll wait a while and count up the votes for each idea before deciding on the official ending.


	6. A Chance

A.N. Well, since it's been around five months and I've only gotten two votes for LannyXHolly (one a review and the other from a friend who pre-read the story before I posted it) I have decided to go ahead and post the rest of the story.

Miss Holly, after going out on that first date with Brett, realized he wasn't the guy she thought he was. She was crushed and even hurt. Fortunately her mom hadn't gloated despite knowing all along that her daughter could do better, and instead had comforted Miss Holly. It did help, but not much. Miss Holly wondered if she'd ever find the right guy.

One day in Elfville Lanny went into a cafe and to his surprise saw Miss Holly there. He ordered his drink and pastry and went over to Miss Holly.

"Hi." Lanny at first smiled until he saw how sad Miss Holly looked.

Miss Holly looked up and gave him a weak smile.

"Hello Lanny." She said. "You can join me if you want, I'd like the company."

"Thanks." Lanny was grateful since most of the other tables were full. "Forgive me for asking but what are you doing here? Did Santa give you a day off?"

"Yeah, he saw how sad I was and said that I could take some time off until I recovered." Miss Holly sighed. "My apprentice is taking over for now."

"Oh." Lanny took a sip of his drink. "What happened?"

"Brett turned out not to be the guy I thought he was." Miss Holly said.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Lanny said sympathetically.

"It's okay, I'm still grateful to you for helping us go on that one date." Miss Holly smiled weakly. "At least I found out now, while I still have time to find someone else. If there is someone out there for me."

"Of course there is, you're a nice, sweet, smart, fashionable, and very organized woman." Lanny smiled. "You'll find someone, I know it."

Miss Holly smiled a bit stronger and blushed a little. She had never been complimented like that before.

"Thanks Lanny, you've been the best friend I've ever had." She said.

"You're welcome." Lanny smiled and took a small bite of his pastry.

"So, how do you propose I find that someone?" Miss Holly asked.

"Well, I've seen commercials for this website called Elf-Date-dot-com." Lanny remembered. "Been thinking of giving it a try myself."

"I'll pass." Miss Holly shook her head. "I want to get out more not get hooked on another website."

"Oh. Well then I guess just go to a lot of crowded places like cafes and bars." Lanny shrugged. "That's what I've been doing...haven't had much success but that's my own fault. I'm sure you'll have better luck."

"What about your friends Wendy and Vicky?" Miss Holly asked.

"Nah, they're more like my sisters...well kinda like my sisters...I mean they have different personalities but..." Lanny stammered.

Miss Holly giggled.

"I know what you mean." She smiled.

Lanny smiled back.

"I guess I could try cafes and bars when I get the chance." Miss Holly sighed. "But who would want to date someone who's busy all the time?"

"That doesn't stop Wayne from dating Magee." Lanny pointed out.

"Good point." Miss Holly had to agree. "And Wayne's personal flaws doesn't stop Magee from dating him." She then hinted.

Lanny had to laugh.

"I get your point." He grinned. "You're right, I'll find someone too."

They talked a bit longer as they finished their snack, and then left to do their own things.

Miss Holly tried cafes and bars and all that whenever she got the chance, but she never attracted any guy she liked. A couple months passed and she was getting discouraged. It seemed all the nice guys had already been taken. One day, as she was doing some grocery shopping, she saw Magee there and explained her predicament.

"You're right, there aren't that many nice available guys left out there." Magee had to agree. "Makes me glad Wayne and I got back together."

"So, since you communicate with elves a bit more often than I do you know of any nice guys left?" Miss Holly asked.

"Only Lanny and Noel, but Noel's more of a 'temporary dater' than a 'long-lasting dater'." Magee shrugged.

Miss Holly blushed due to just remembering Magee hinting about becoming 'closer' to Lanny last Christmas. Since Miss Holly didn't think it was too strong a possibility at the time she had ended up forgetting about it until now.

"Lanny?" She said unsurely. "I don't know...we're such good friends, what if something goes wrong?"

"Didn't stop Wayne and I from getting back together." Magee smiled. "That fight we had may have put our relationship on a long hiatus, but everything worked out in the end. If it's meant to be then it'll always work out at some point."

"I guess..." Miss Holly hesitated.

"Think it over anyway." Magee suggested. "You never know."

"Well, I can definitely promise that." Miss Holly nodded.

During the following week Miss Holly thought about the possibility of dating Lanny. She had to admit that the only thing that really made her hesitate, besides the strong friendship they had, was his choice of sweaters. Most of his sweaters weren't her thing, and certainly weren't something she could handle seeing most of the time. Soon she felt ashamed of herself, that was a very shallow reason to not consider Lanny. She then realized that she could always compromise with him: he can wear his least-fashionable sweaters for other times as long as he wore more fashionable ones on their dates. That caused her to think about how the dates would actually go, and she had to admit that they didn't look too bad. Sure Lanny would be nervous and clumsy at times, but on the other hand he was very sweet and also a gentleman. That was more than she could say about the guys who asked her out previously. So, she decided to suggest dating to Lanny next time she saw him.

That happened about two days later. Lanny was playing in the snow in Holly Jolly Park when Miss Holly found him. She had to admit that his childlike personality was actually kinda endearing. Unlike a lot of humans pretty much all elves and reindeer found childlike qualities attractive. Considering Christmas revolved around children to them this wasn't surprising.

"Lanny?" Miss Holly said.

Startled, Lanny quickly stood up and brushed snow off him. He had been making a snow angel at the time.

"Still enjoy playing in the snow huh?" Miss Holly smiled.

"Yeah..." Lanny blushed.

"I miss playing in the snow myself, but I hardly have the time anymore." Miss Holly sighed.

"Well, if you have some free time you can play with me for a while." Lanny smiled. "I was going to make a snowman next."

"I can stay long enough for a snowman." Miss Holly grinned, already excited.

They spent a few hours putting together a snowman and searching for random plant life to decorate him with. Finally they were done, and decided to rest on a bench.

"That was the most fun I've had in a long time." Miss Holly smiled. "Thank you for inviting me."

"No problem, it was a lot more fun doing it with you than it would've been doing it alone." Lanny smiled back. "So, how are things going?"

"Not good, most of the nice guys are taken." Miss Holly sighed.

"Yeah, not having much luck either." Lanny frowned. " hasn't found my match yet."

"Well...then how about we try dating? At least until one of us has some luck?" Miss Holly suggested.

Lanny blushed big time.

"You mean...date each other?" He said nervously.

"Sure, it could pass the time while we wait for the right ones to come along." Miss Holly shrugged.

Lanny considered this.

"You make a good point." He had to admit. "I guess we could give it a try. When are you free next?"

"Tonight at six." She smiled. "That's when I get off and have dinner."

"Well then how about I pick you up in front of Santa's office around six?" Lanny smiled.

"It's a date." Miss Holly agreed.

The rest of the day was a bit nerve-wracking for Lanny. Miss Holly was an attractive elf and being asked out by an attractive elf obviously unnerved him. For one thing this was the first time it happened. Also there was the fact that he and Miss Holly were friends, and he didn't want to risk harming that friendship. Fortunately this apparently being just 'pretend' dating helped with that one. But then there was also the classic problem: what was he going to wear?

Miss Holly was a little nervous too, but mostly excited. She realized that she really did like Lanny and the possibility of ending up with him didn't sound too bad at all. She only worried that he would find someone else later on and she would be left alone again. But she decided to worry about that when it happened. As for now, she was just going to concentrate on having a good time without revealing that she was starting to fall for Lanny.

Later on, Miss Holly was back at work and Lanny was back home. He searched through his closet, looking for an appropriate outfit. He knew how fashionable Miss Holly was, and so had to be careful about his pick of sweaters. He decided to forget his animal sweaters and look for one with a simple design. Finally he narrowed it down to four sweaters: a red and green plaid one, two red and green striped ones (one vertical and one horizontal), and a blue and white checkerboard one.

He decided to forget the horizontal striped one, he heard somewhere that horizontal striped sweaters made you look fat. He mostly wore that one around his grandpa to help prevent him from saying "You're ganglier than a newborn reindeer" anyway, it was one of the very few things that actually ticked Lanny off. The sweater sometimes helped prevent his grandpa saying that, but not always.

Now it was between the plaid, the vertical striped, and the checkerboard. He wasn't sure which one to wear, so he decided to ask someone for help. He first thought of his mom, but then remembered that she's been wanting him to find the right girl almost as long as he has. He didn't want to falsely raise her hopes. He then thought of Wayne and Magee...Magee was obviously too busy so he settled for asking Wayne. Wayne wasn't exactly fashionable, but he wasn't a fashion felon either. At least not with sweaters, but his ties were another matter...though Lanny had to admit that he liked a lot of Wayne's ties. He even had bought duplicates of them.

"Hello?" Wayne said over the phone.

"Hi Wayne, it's Lanny. I need your advice."

"Oh? What's it about this time?" Wayne wasn't surprised, Lanny had asked him for advice countless times in the past.

"What to wear on a date." Lanny blushed a little.

"No way! You finally got a girl to go out with you?" Wayne sounded very happy.

"Well kinda, it's not a real date." Lanny explained. "Miss Holly and I are just temporarily going out until one of us finds someone else. We've both been feeling kinda lonely so she thought it'd be a good way to pass the time. I figured it was worth a try so I agreed."

"Ah." Wayne sounded like he was trying to hide his disappointment. "So what have you considered?"

"Well, I have a red and green plaid one, a red and green vertical striped one, and a blue and white checkerboard one." Lanny looked his sweaters over again.

"Glad you didn't go for the horizontal striped one." Wayne chuckled, remembering that particular sweater. "Let's see...I think stripes are kinda out in general...plaid and checkerboard are still popular for guys... Wait a minute, the checkerboard one is blue and white? That doesn't sound very festive."

"I save it for Hanukah parties, you know I like all winter celebrations." Lanny shrugged.

"Oh right." Wayne understood.

Even though Santa and the elves and reindeer were Christmas celebrators and all that they sometimes acknowledged other winter celebrations the humans did. Hanukah mostly, especially since some elves liked the food and/or games.

"Well, I'd go with the checkerboard one then." Wayne decided. "It's not as festive Christmas-wise, which makes it good for a first date. Even if it's not a real date."

"Thanks Wayne." Lanny smiled with relief.

"Don't mention it, just let me know how the not-real date went when you get back."

"Sure thing, talk to ya tonight."

"Right. If I don't answer it's probably because I've fallen asleep in front of the TV again."

"Heh, good thing you're dating Magee, it gets you out more." Lanny chuckled.

"Yeah ha-ha." Wayne replied sarcastically. "Talk to ya later."

"Bye."

They both hung up. Lanny then got ready. He wondered if he should bring something for Miss Holly, just to be polite, but also wondered if doing so would be a bit much. Finally he decided to just buy a single red rose. He would've gone for pink, but figured that Miss Holly wouldn't have time to change and so would probably still be wearing her red dress.


	7. The Practice Date

Finally it was six. Lanny waited outside Santa's office and soon Holly came out. Sure enough she hadn't changed, making Lanny grateful that he went with a red rose. A pink one would've stood out too much.

"Hi Miss Holly." Lanny blushed a little. "I got this for you."

"Thank you Lanny." Miss Holly smiled and accepted the rose. "Nervous?"

"Just a little. At least this isn't a real date, I'd be worse off if it was." He admitted.

"Well don't worry, this'll be just two friends going out to dinner." Miss Holly gently put a hand on his shoulder. "That's a nice sweater Lanny. One of your nicest ones too."

"Thanks, Wayne suggested it." Lanny smiled with relief as they started to leave.

"Good, now if only someone could suggest more fashionable ties to him." Miss Holly giggled.

Lanny just rolled his eyes.

"I know, you actually like some of his ties." Miss Holly grinned. "I've seen you wear some before."

"Well I just like looking as festive as possible." Lanny retorted in a defensive-yet-friendly manner.

"I know, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's still better to look fashionable at an important event though, so you don't make the wrong impression."

"Yeah, I guess I can understand that. What about the Christmas parties?"

"That's an exception, pretty much everyone goes overboard with the festive look then."

"True...have I ever gone overboard?"

"Well the mistletoe hanging from your head was too much." Miss Holly had to admit.

Lanny blushed again.

"Heh...it was my first party...I guess I was too desperate about getting my first Christmas party kiss." He admitted. "Uh, was the sweater and tree hat okay?"

"Why are you so concerned with my opinion?" Miss Holly chuckled. "You can wear whatever you want to wear at the Christmas parties."

"Oh it's not the parties, it's our future pretend-dates." Lanny explained. "I don't want to risk embarrassing you more than I probably will."

"Oh." Miss Holly smiled, touched that Lanny cared that much. "Well, how about you use your more fashionable sweaters for our dates and wear the rest at other times of the year? I won't make you stop wearing your festive ones entirely, no matter what. I like you the way you are anyway."

"That works, I'll separate them later tonight." Lanny nodded, relieved.

They talked some more as they headed for a restaurant. Since it wasn't a real date they didn't go to a really fancy one. Lanny didn't want to take her to a diner or cafe either though so they went down the middle and picked a nice yet not expensive restaurant.

They continued talking as they ordered, waited for their food, and ate. Lanny was clumsy, as normal, but to his relief Miss Holly found it more amusing than embarrassing. The first clumsy moment was when he tripped on the stairs. Miss Holly was about to protest about ice on the steps, when Lanny explained that it was just him. After seeing that he was all right, Miss Holly shrugged it off and they went inside. Most of the rest of the clumsy stuff had to do with the food and drinks. Lanny had a little trouble getting some of the food on his fork or spoon, and he got a little too nervous and spilled a bit of his drink, but fortunately there weren't any big messes to clean up.

Apart from the clumsiness, they actually had a really great time. All too soon, it was time to go home. Lanny drove Miss Holly to her house. After he parked he walked her to her door.

"I actually had a wonderful time Lanny." Miss Holly smiled, blushing a bit. "You're a really great guy."

"Really? I had a great time too." Lanny smiled, also blushing a bit. "You're actually fun to hang out with...even around as much fun as Wendy and Vicky."

"I'm relieved, I used to do a lot of fun things when I was younger but then I just got so busy." Miss Holly sighed. "I'm glad I haven't lost my touch. So, I was thinking...the next time I have a day off...how about we do one of your activities? Just because I'm fashionable doesn't mean I'm stuck-up or anything, and I have been wanting to get back to old-fashioned fun like the kids do."

"Really?" Lanny smiled, happily surprised. "Well the Fruitcake Factory Friday Fruit Fest is coming up later this week, if you can get some free time I'd love to take you to it. Wendy, Vicky and I do it every time and I also would like you to meet them."

"Okay, I do like fruitcake." Miss Holly smiled. "At least the good kind, not the kind that's poorly done."

"Great!" Lanny automatically hugged her. "I'll see you then, maybe even sooner."

"You bet." Miss Holly grinned. "See you later Lanny."

"Bye Miss Holly." Lanny let go and headed back to his snowmobile.

"Just call me Holly, it's actually my first name. I use it instead of my last name to seem friendlier." Miss Holly smiled.

"Okay...Holly." Lanny smiled and got into his snowmobile. "I'll call you later!"

"All right!" Holly waved as Lanny drove off. "Maybe he is the one." She said to herself.

Lanny was also very excited. He was really starting to enjoy being with Holly, and couldn't wait until Friday.

When he got home he called Wayne and told him how much fun he had. Fortunately Wayne hadn't fallen asleep in front of the TV. Wayne was happy to hear that Lanny had a great time, and hoped to himself that Lanny and Miss Holly would end up together.

Miss Holly had also called Magee, and the conversation was kinda the same. Magee too hoped to herself that Lanny and Miss Holly would end up together.


	8. Practice Makes Perfect

Friday came, and Lanny drove Holly to the Fruitcake Factory. Once they arrived Lanny sought out Wendy and Vicky and introduced Miss Holly to them. Wendy and Vicky were surprised that Miss Holly was more sociable than she appeared, but ended up glad that she was. The four of them had a great time.

Another two weeks passed like that, and not much changed. Holly realized that she really had fallen for Lanny, but decided to wait for him to develop feelings for her first. She didn't want to risk scaring him off.

As for Lanny, he had fallen for Holly but hadn't realized it at first. He didn't catch on until one night when they went to the movies. Holly had worked hard that day, and so ended up falling asleep on Lanny's shoulder without realizing it. Lanny blushed big time, making him grateful that it was so dark inside the theater. He didn't want to wake Holly up, knowing how tired she was, so he let her stay like that. As the movie went on Lanny realized that he actually liked Holly being that close to him, and noticed that his heart was beating fast.

"_Wait a minute, have I...have I fallen for Holly?_" Lanny thought.

Finally the movie was over, meaning Lanny had to wake Holly up.

"Hey, Holly, come on the movie's over." Lanny shook her gently.

Holly woke up and sat up.

"Oh, did I sleep through the whole movie?" She asked.

"Not all of it, but you did sleep through most of it." Lanny nodded.

"Sorry, I guess I was more tired than I thought." Holly said apologetically.

"It's okay, you needed the rest." Lanny smiled. "I'd better take you home."

"Right." Holly yawned.

They left the theater, Lanny still wondering about his feelings for Holly. Holly, who was still a bit tired, lost her footing and Lanny had to catch her.

"Heh, I guess I'm the clumsy one tonight." Holly joked.

Lanny didn't respond. In catching her he ended up grabbing her hand and he found his heart beating even faster. He now knew that he really had fallen for Holly and the realization made him lose his voice.

"Lanny?" Holly looked at him concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Lanny snapped out of it. "Oh...yeah I guess I'm just a bit tired too. We both had better get home."

"Yeah." Holly nodded. "I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight."

"Same here." Lanny agreed.

Lanny drove Holly home and walked her to the front door. After saying their goodbyes, Lanny then left and went home. He spent the rest of the night and the most of the next day worrying about his newfound feelings for Holly. Finally he decided to just tell her first chance he got. He never felt this way before about any other girl and he didn't want to risk losing his chance.

So, later that evening, Lanny waited for Holly outside Santa's office. Holly was surprised when she opened the door.

"Lanny? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I had to see you...last night, in the theater, something came over me." Lanny was now blushing big time. "I, uh...I've..." He gulped.

"It's okay Lanny, nothing will ruin our friendship." Holly smiled.

Lanny took a deep breath, relieved, and finally said it:

"I've fallen in love with you."

Holly beamed. Lanny looked at her surprised.

"I love you too." She admitted. "I actually have for a while, ever since we started to pretend-date. I just didn't want to risk scaring you off."

Lanny couldn't believe his ears.

"Really?" He double-checked.

Holly nodded, still grinning. Lanny now beamed, and he and Holly drew closer together. Slowly, they kissed.

Ever since that day they stopped pretend-dating and now dated for real. Both their parents were very happy, though not as happy as Wayne and Magee. Noel was happy for them too, mostly for Lanny since he knew him better and so was closer to him.

Time passed. Eventually Wayne and Magee realized that it was time to start spending the rest of their lives together...and so they got married. Years later, Lanny and Holly did too.


End file.
